Having Eclectic Music Taste: Why Some People Can’t Stick to One Genre

It's me, I'm People. For real. I talked about this briefly on Facebook a while back but wanted to expand on it. For the last 3-4 years, I was a pretty hardcore Swiftie. Part of it was part of my own healing journey I won't get into all that, but after coming out of Covid and my own mental health issues, the upbeat and positivity Taylor Swift puts out was important to me and made me feel good in ways I hadn't felt in years. I don't regret any of it, and still love Taylor Swift and her music, even though I was never able to get tickets to the Eras Tour.

I grew up on metal and country. Country because that's what I was exposed to as a kid in Indiana, things like Toby Keith, Tim McGraw and Alabama. I still like some of that music. New country doesn't do much for me, but most of it is bootlicking and police fellating drivel.

I got into metal from hearing it at school. Like most kids in the 80s I started out with hair metal and one day saw Metallica's One video on MTV, it both disturbed and intrigued me. Before I knew it I was secretly listening to And Justice for All on my Walkman.

When I went through my divorce in my 30s, it was a dark time. Rise Above this by Seether helped me through a really dark time, but so did Taylor Swift's music. Listening to heavy riffs made me anxious and Taylor's voice was soothing.

Somewhere in the middle of this I found Ghost (I also listened to Iron Maiden later growing up, but kinda skipped over that part.) I'm not sure what genres of metal or music you'd call Ghost or Iron Maiden, I find both sing about similar themes of the apocalypse and supernatural things. I always was fascinated but such topics so it reasonates with me.

I talk more about Ghost in THIS blog. So I won't spend too much time on them here, other to say they aren't nearly as heavy as I thought they would be. Their harmonies are quite pleasant actually, but they can also be heavy too. I know some metal heads hate them, but I tend to be against various forms of gatekeeping, especially at my age.

I also like Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo. Sabrina reminds me of Dolly Parton and even Madonna in some ways. Olivia reminds me of Alanis Morrisette. Oddly most male artists these days are dropping the ball and I'm not sure why or the women are just really pushing the envelope. Either way I feel this is a great time to discover new music.

I also recently discovered Al1ce, an goth/synthwave band I think is the genre. Their music is very...what's the word here? Transcendental. I like to listen to them when I draw because it takes my mind kind of out of my head. Hard to explain, but I definietly recommend checking them out. They also have a Facebook group and are really interactive with their fans.

I don't know where I am going with this. I'm writing at 6am and just had a lot on my mind. Music has been playing a bigger part of my life in recent months than it had over the years.

During my Swiftie years Taylor was pretty much ALL I would listen to and maybe that's what I needed at the moment. Now I find I'm always discovering new stuff. In a few weeks I'm seeing one of my favorite indie bands called Gold Steps here in San Antonio which I'm excited about. They don't have a big following, but I'd rather see them in a club, than most bands at a Stadium then go hang with them at their merch table. They are folks who really need and appreciate our support and will notice such.

They are pretty cool people and an amazing band if you like sounds like Paramore. I highly suggest checking them out.

Then there is the Pretty Reckless with Taylor Momsen I discovered recently. They may be my favorite of my new discoveries. I saw them live recently and they put on a killer show.

Seeing Cindy Lou Who leading a rock band is rather surreal, but she kills it.

This pretty much sums up my musical taste. I guess the point I'm making here is how much of my life I forced myself into specific genres or artists and refused to listen to anything else. I feared that I would seem fake, inauthentic or a dreaded "poser". Well I'm 53 now and that word is just silly. When It comes to music. listen to what you want. There should be something for every mood and season and there is nothing wrong with that. Life is too short to deny yourself things that make you happy.

I decided after I started my mental health healing practice that I would focus on things that make me happy and feel good and lots of music from all kinds of people is one of those things. We used to go to Swiftie dance parties every month which was fun. But this year we've been to a concert, a concert movie for Ghost and later this year seeing Gold Steps and Bowling for Soup. All have been and will be enriching experiences with some great memories.

If you have one takeaway from this blog, its do the thing, listen to the song go see the band or buy the tickets if you can afford it. Indie bands are very affordable and great to go see. I think Pretty Reckless tickets were around 45.00 each for a small venue where there wasn't a bad seat anywhere. Gold Steps tickets were about 10.00.

During COVID we kind of became hermits and that was understandable. but as we get older we need to get out more and experience life. Not just whither away in our home. So that is what we are doing and having a great time doing it. Don't let gatekeepers hold you back. Play the song. Buy the concert tickets. Live your life!

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